Father of Palestinian baby killed in Duma attack dies of injuries
PA: Plans underway for funeral in Nablus; Saad Dawabsha suffered massive burns when suspected Jewish extremists set home alight
The father of the 18-month-old Palestinian baby who was killed in a firebomb attack by suspected settler extremists died Saturday morning of the wounds he sustained in the attack, his brother told al-Jazeera.
Saad Dawabsha, his wife Riham and their four-year-old son Ahmad were critically injured in the July 31 attack on their home in the West Bank village of Duma in which Ali, 18-months-old, was burned to death. The father was being treated at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
Riham and Ahmad Dawabsha are still in grave condition at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv.
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official in the north of the West Bank, said Palestinian and Israeli authorities were trying to make arrangements to transfer Saad Dawabsha’s body for the funeral.
“Saad Dawabsha died and plans are underway for his funeral in Nablus,” Daghlas said. Large crowds were expected to attend the funeral, wrote Reuters.
Hamas said in response Saturday that Dawabsha’s death “emphasises the scale of the crime that the Zionists committed against the family. The resistance in the West Bank has become a right, obligation and way to protect ourselves,” Israeli website Ynet reported.
“The only thing that deters the settlers is an offensive initiative against them, and not waiting until they reach our homes and villages. For our people in the West Bank, there remains no choice but to launch an open and comprehensive campaign against Israel, without waiting for anyone’s decision,” Hamas stated.
Two homes in Duma, south of Nablus, were set alight in the July 31 attack, and the Hebrew words “Revenge” and “Long live the king messiah” were spray-painted on their walls, alongside a Star of David.
The attack caused massive outrage in Israel and around the world, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to find the terrorists behind the firebombing and put them on trial.
“I am shocked by this horrific, heinous act,” said Netanyahu in a statement in the aftermath of the attack. “This is a terror attack in every respect. The State of Israel deals forcefully with terror, regardless of who the perpetrators are.”
But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he doubted Israel would provide “true justice,” and the PA filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
